Meteorism, flatulence, swollen belly, aerophagia, eructations, are all disorders often linked to the gastrointestinal tract. The symptoms are very common and often make those who suffer suffer uncomfortable.
They can pass from the weight on the stomach with the need to digest even if they have not eaten anything or have only drunk a sip of water, with a swollen stomach, abdominal pains, flatulence.
What must reassure us all is that the production of gas and its expulsion is part of our body's natural organic processes; the frequency can tell us if there is any excess that must be controlled through nutrition and the integration of phytotherapy that can help us .
Natural remedies against excess air
Fennel, mint, cumin, charcoal, ginger, are all natural remedies that help eliminate excess air and the production of intestinal gas. Let's see their properties together and how to use them.
Fennel
Remedy of which the seeds ( fruits ) are used, carries out a carminative, antispasmodic, galactogenic and expectorant activity. Fennel rich in flavonoids, acts at various levels: it improves the metabolism on the liver and facilitates detoxification .
The seeds rich in anethole and phenicone act on the stomach and stimulate the digestive and intestinal processes with a carminative action against flatulence and meteorism. Its anti-fermentation action prevents the reformation of intestinal gases, thus also alleviating painful effects of spastic colitis.
- Infusion: 2 grams per cup of boiling water (150 ml), 2 or 3 times a day
- Tincture: 30 drops in a little water 3 times a day
- Dry extract: 150 mg, 3 times a day
Peppermint
Remedy of which leaves are used, plays gastrointestinal spasmolytic activity, gallbladder and biliary tract. Mint is carminative, colagogue, choleretic, eupeptic . It is indicated for gastrointestinal spasms, nausea, hepatocolecistopathies, irritable colon, colitis, meteorism, dyspepsias. Its refreshing and soothing action takes place on a broad spectrum thanks to its components in flavonoids, tannins, vitamin C, enzymes, menthol. These are also associated with its anti-fermentative action designed to counteract the formation of intestinal gas due to incorrect food associations.
- Infusion: 1.5 grams per cup of boiling water, 3 times a day after meals.
Stomach swelling: here are the causes and remedies
Cumin
The remedy of which the seeds are used, plays a gastrointestinal, carminative, digestive, aperitif, galactogenic antispasmodic activity . Cumin is indicated for gastrointestinal colic, irritable bowel, meteorism, dyspepsia, dysmenorrhea. It is useful to help cure diabetes, reduces cholesterol and triglycerides, stimulates the immune system and helps detoxify the body.
- Infusion: 2 grams per cup of boiling water, 2 or 3 times a day
- Tincture: 30 drops in a little water 3 times a day
- Dry extract: 150 mg, 2 or 3 times a day
Charcoal
Remedy obtained with carbonized birch wood, poplar, has an antacid, anti-fermentation, astringent, anti-toxic activity. The charcoal is indicated in case of gastric acidity, meteorism, diarrhea and intoxications of various nature due to adsorption. It is thanks to this adsorbent characteristic that it counteracts the effects of aerophagia and meteorism, retaining the gases produced in its pores. Also excellent in the case of gastroesophageal reflux: it succeeds in absorbing excess gastric juices and preventing stomach acid and vocal cord acidity. Attention to its use in conjunction with pharmacological treatments: it could retain and absorb the active ingredients.
- Powder or tablet: 1 or 2 grams a day between meals
Ginger
Remedy of which the rhizome is used, carries out anti-inflammatory, spasmolytic, eupeptic, carminative, antiulcer, antibacterial activity. Ginger indicated in case of nausea, dyspepsias, flatulence, colic, gastritis. It is a warming and refreshing remedy at the same time, like chilli: it warms the stomach, refreshes the intestine, helping digestion and counteracting intestinal fermentation .
In China and Japan it is used fresh at the end of a meal to help the entire gastrointestinal system starting from the mouth: it cleans and refreshes the breath, detoxifies the esophagus, acts as a digestive and finally as a carminative.
- Infusion: 1 g per cup of 150 ml water, 3 cups per day
- Tincture: 30 drops in a little water 3 times a day
- Powder: 500 mg 2 or 3 times a day in boiling water
- Dry extract: 150 mg, 2 or 3 times a day
Causes of the presence of excess air
- The tendency to erupt often, beyond the normal digestion of meals, can be caused by various factors. Sometimes excess air is swallowed ( aerophagia ) while we talk, drink, yawn. Even an incorrect inhalation using more the mouth of the nose causes us to introduce in our esophagus a plus of air that inevitably must then be eliminated. Unfortunately, however, there may be pathologies underlying this phenomenon, such as a peptic ulcer, a hiatal hernia with symptoms of gastroesafage reflux.
- Problems of flatulence are certainly more disturbing and create inconvenience to those who suffer very often. Belly swellings, abdominal pains can be caused by a diet too rich in carbohydrates, starches (except for rice) fats, but also by the presence of intestinal bacteria due to chronic disorders such as Crohn's disease, or colon syndrome irritable that cause regular evacuation difficulties. There are also foods for which the stomach fails to put in place the enzymes suitable for their digestion and are not digested in the large intestine, attacked by the bacterial flora with the production of catabolites rich in hydrogen, carbon dioxide and sometimes methane.
Foods to avoid in case of meteorism
In case you are subject to air formation in the stomach and in the intestine it is good to resort to some food precautions, reducing if not, in some cases, eliminating some ingredients from our meals.
No to alcohol, to too many coffees, to carbonated beverages containing excess sugars, fries, dairy products, boiling milk in which lactose is transformed into lactulose with highly osmotic characteristics. It is good to reduce the consumption of potatoes, beans, broccoli and carbohydrates, since they can be poorly digested and poorly assimilated, then producing fermentative catabolites and intestinal gases.
